


bark; woof; awoo

by Otterly



Category: Pack Street - Fandom, Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Drabbles, etc - Freeform, one shots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-02-11 14:58:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12937728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Otterly/pseuds/Otterly
Summary: series of unrelated shortsmost will be starring al and betty from pack street but i’m not saying no to other caninesbut they have to be canines because then the title wouldn’t make sense





	1. The Mystery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they're dogs haha get it that's the joke

“Where’d you find this?” Al asked, “I haven’t seen it in ages.”

He ran a thumb over the object in his hand. It was red and plastic, cube-like in shape, completely bare without manipulation but with invisible divots and sections that could twist or be lifted up. Dust spattered its edges, but with after blowing on it a little it’d probably be as good as new. He could feel its hollowness as he turned it over, ears perking at the tiny rattle from inside.

Velvet, who was almost ready and checking her face in the glass reflection of her phone, turned back to smile at him. “I was cleaning out our room and, well, it rolled out from behind a box of your childhood things––remind me to check if the apartment’s haunted or not sometime this week. Anyway, I’ve never seen one of them in real life. What exactly are they supposed to do again?”

“You gave ‘em to pups and they’d wear themselves out trying to get them open. But never me. I always found a way. Except for this one. I think my Dad bought an impossible one just so he’d have to stop spending money on more.”

The sight of the wolf examining the toy like it was some sort of coded device gave her one last giggle before she left, promising to be home just after dinner.

Al could barely hear her words, though. The old enticement that had gripped his childhood heart was back. He glared at the toy’s obnoxious logo. A typographic nightmare that spelled out “KONG” in all capitals. There was something inside this thing; that was the game. There was always some sort of prize, usually toys or something, sometimes a little coupon that gave you fifty percent off another one, and whatever it was activated the sort of greed that an Alpha needed to have. Whatever was in this stupid kid’s toy was his. It was keeping his property from him. He _needed_  to open it.

But just as quickly as he fell into the hole he climbed back out, shaking his head and tossing the thing to the other side of the couch. Where he couldn’t see it. Or hear it rattle its taunting cry as he shifted in his seat. He was a big boy, after all. He was way, way, _way_ past the age where a toy could trick him into wasting precious time.

“What are you doing?” asked Betty from his doorway.

He turned back at her, trying to appear nonplussed. “Nothing.”

“Then why do you have a Kong in your paw?”

Al’s eyes flicked downward, and sure as day the Kong was sitting pretty in his grasp. “V found it. Been reminiscing, I guess,” he explained as he turned to turn the TV off. “Come in. What do you need?”

The door closed softly behind her as she entered the Alpha’s den. She was a frequent visitor––one of the few that Al allowed to be a frequent visitor, anyway. “I made too much grilled cheese.”

“Ah,” he said as she handed him two pieces of still-warm food, almost immediately wolfing them down and handing her back the paper towel that was holding them together. “Anything else?”

“Nope. Bye.”

“Seeya.”

She left as soon as she had entered, and Al was left alone once more. He focused himself on the cube in his hand once more. There were tiny knobs that could be turned, some corners that slid forwards and backwards, but nothing too revealing on how it opened or what exactly was inside of it. He shook the cube, hearing it rattle––

A force crashing through his door made him jump up and roar as his hackles rose high, but a submissive whimper from the intruder brought him out of his startled frenzy.

Al blinked, tilting his head at the black wolf exposing her neck. “What the hell?”

“Sorry about the scare. Can I reminisce too?” she asked.

He thought about telling her to back off, but shrugged. The company would be nice. “Yeah. Get over here.”

 

* * *

 

Betty held the cube in her hands, examining its four sides carefully. “You’re sure it’s not just impossible to open?”

“No.”

“Then why are we wasting our time?”

Al shook the Kong once again, and then she remembered again, somewhere among the flutters of intrigue in her heart.

“Right,” she sighed, tapping a fingertip to her cheek in thought. “Well, there are a whole bunch of distractions here. A lot of this stuff doesn’t look like it’s actually doing anything. No clicks from inside. No victory lights or anything like that. Maybe it’s supposed to be opened with brute force?”

“That wouldn’t make sense,” Al argued. “Every other Kong I’ve come across was opened with surprisingly gentle force, if anything. You’re a goddamn locksmith, too. Don’t you need delicacy for that?”

“I know, I know. I do, and me too. Kongs’re supposed to get pups to learn how to use finesse. But that could be why this one is so hard. Because it reverses everything we know.”

“Crap, that’s a good point,” huffed Al. “How do you think we should do it? Betty?”

The snow-white wolf turned back to see his inferior scrounging around his kitchen. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Looking for a hammer.”

“Why would there––“

“Got it.”

“ _Where?_ ”

“Under the sink. You’d be surprised how common it is,” Betty explained. She leapt back onto the couch and took the Kong out from under Al’s nose, placing it on the coffee table in front of them. With a shimmy of her shoulders and a focused squint, she positioned the hammer’s blunt edge above its top-facing surface.

“If you fuck up my table in any way…”

“I know. I won’t.”

Betty steadied herself, preparing her mind for the swing. One, two…

She drew back and slammed the hammer onto the Kong, but only managed to make it bounce a few inches forward, making little to no impact on the thing at all.

She groaned, placing the hammer on the floor. “There goes _that_  idea.”

“It was a good idea,” Al insisted. “Just not the right one.”

“What else could it be?”

“Scrapping the hammer but staying with brute force, maybe it’s something that can only take two to solve.”

“How do you mean?”

He held the Kong out to her, gripping half of it with both hands. “Hold the other half.”

Obediently, she did, and they nodded at each other. There was no way that this wasn’t going to work.

“Okay,” Al said. “Now pull.”

And what did he know, it actually kind of worked. Ten seconds of tugging full force caused some of it to fall off in the kind of way that felt right, rather than it simply being broken. Another, smaller pyramid of red fell onto the ground, leaving a triangular hole in the cube and alleviating both wolves’ worries. Maybe they weren’t doing this for naught. Al held the cube as Betty let go to pick up the pyramid.

“Weird,” she remarked. “Doesn’t seem to be a key or anything like that, but this had to be on purpose somehow. It’s more progress than you woulda made alone, though, so I think I deserve a little credit when—what are you doing?”

“Aghcklmoast,” Al garbled around the cube in his mouth. He was biting down as hard as he could, attempting to see if the hard plastic would give way or bend somehow, but it didn’t seem to be anough. Looking at Betty with commanding eyes, he offered the cube to her.

“Really?” Betty said, rolling her eyes.

Al nodded.

She sighed, and turned her head to take the other half into her mouth, biting down in tandem with her Alpha after counting down from 3 with her fingers. She remembered hearing somewhere on the news that wolves had a stupidly strong bite force. Doubling that would probably be impossible to resist.

But alas, it was only a ‘probably’. After the second minute, when her jaw began to tire, Betty let go and dabbed her mouth with a kleenex. “Remind me to at least argue before you make me humiliate myself again.”

“Humiliate? There’s no one here but me and you.”

“Yeah, but I get really judgemental towards my past actions past 6 am. Let’s see what we have so far, shall we?” she snarked, holding the cube in front of her, turning it over and fidgeting with this and that. “Alright, so we have some kind of pyramid hole in _this_  side, and a few corners that flip open on _this_  side, and then there are some buttons _here_. But the hole is a new thing, so let’s focus on that. Any ideas?”

“Don’t know,” admitted Al. ”Will putting it back together do anything?”

She tried, to no avail. “Nope.”

“Well, shit.”

“Do you smell that?”

The white wolf sniffed the air. “Yeah. Cormo’s home.”

Betty grinned. “Let’s pay him a visit.”

“Didn’t you just eat?”

“No, not that,” she groaned. “Well, mostly not that. What do you think would fit into this Kong better than some hooftips?”

“The pyramid that fell out of it, but I get your point. West 001, then.”

 

* * *

 

A crash sounded as Betty kicked down the matte white door that blocked her off from Remmy’s apartment. She stepped in, taking note of the notes of fear that his scent was screaming into her nose, which eventually sniffed its way to the BugBurga bag on the kitchen table. She turned back towards her Omega. “Hey there, stuffing. We’re gonna need your hooves and some burgers—I know you’ve got more than—“

“Yo, what the shit?” Al growled, gesturing to the door as he followed behind her. “You’re gonna be fixing that later.”

“It was broken anyway. Charlie needed to borrow something earlier,” she explained. “Ain’t that right, Cormo?”

The terrified sheep nodded, finding his voice. “Yeah. Uh, there’s some extra burgers in the bag that I was gonna go down and give to you, actually.”

Both wolves blinked.

“Nice. Thanks,” Al smiled, helping himself to one.

“W—What did you need me for?” Remmy asked. He looked around his apartment, grateful to see that it wasn’t too much of a sty today.

“You know what a Kong is, grazer?” Betty inquired back.

“Nope. Is that some kind of—“

“Here,” she interrupted, tossing the thing across the room and into his hooves. “You see that triangle hole?”

“It’s more of a pyramid, but yeah.”

“Whatever. Put your hooftip into it and try twisting it.”

Remmy squinted at the Kong. “Are you sure this is safe?”

“Sure.”

“Alright then,” he said, sticking a finger into the hole. “So just try turning it like— _oh fuck,_ ”

* * *

 

“Poor grazer,” Betty hung her head as she leaned her back into her chair. “I was really beginning to get used to him and then he just goes out like that. You think we should notify his family?”

“I think he’ll be fine,” Al savored the bite of burger in his mouth, tasting the tenderness in the meat and the subtle spice of the seasoning and sauce. “It was just a sprained finger.”

“Seemed to me like he was gonna die,” she chuckled.

“Yeah, well, that’s what growing up in Meadowlands is gonna do to you.”

The two wolves had found their way back to Al’s kitchen after Cormo angrily (and tearily) sent them on their way, and now they were back at square two. About an hour, maybe two had passed since their last thread of progress. Things weren’t looking bleak but if you had to ask Al, they were about to be.

For now, though, they ate their offerings.

“No, wait, what the fuck,” Betty muttered as she put her food down. “What are we doing? Let’s open the thing!”

“But I’m hungry,” countered Al.

“But—“

“I’m hungry.”

Snorting disdainfully, Betty skulked into the living room. “Fine, then. I’ll open it myself.”

“Good luck with that.”

She traced a claw over the bumps and ridges, letting her mind wander in search of a solution or a shred of ingenuity. Could be that the hole was another pointless facet, in which case she was back at the start, so she scrapped that idea as soon as it came. Another possibility was that it only opened under a certain temperature, which was dumb.

Dumb enough to work, that is. Taking the godforsaken cube into her paw, she ran into Al’s bathroom.

“You’re not gonna do anything weird with that thing, are you?” she heard him call over a mouthful of fast food.

Not responding, she put the cube in the sink and turned the tap as hot as it could go, letting the scalding water wash into the triangular divot and over the rest of its sides. Come on, she thought to herself, this is my last chance. If this doesn’t work, I’m out of options. Then I’m gonna actually go insane. So you better open up, Kong.

Under her stare and the hot liquid, it should have bloomed. It didn’t. Or, it was refusing to. A few more seconds and then it’d open.

“Oh, come on,” Betty sighed, leaning against the bathroom wall. Hopefully she wouldn’t end up flooding the place. She’d have to keep a vigilant eye just in case.

Seconds into half-minutes into two minutes into fifteen, yet any changes in the cube had still yet to be seen. Betty’s eyes were getting tired. At some point Al had come and joined her. She thought he might get mad at this collosal waste of water, but he hadn’t. He simply watched and waited at her side.

Her blinks became longer and longer. Before too long she was aware that she was actively leaning on something fluffy, which had an arm around her waist holding her steady. Betty started yawning after that. Around the fourth time she yawned she noticed that the water had stopped running, and she was being shepherded to the couch, which she crashed onto as soon as it was in within her reach. She noticed Al turn to leave, but she sat up and pulled him down with her, lazily draping her arms around him like a giant teddy bear.

He didn’t have the heart to break the snuggle, so he stayed. They fell into a nap together, interrupted after about an hour by a doe that wanted in, who they gladly allowed to join.

And when they awoke, Remmy had found out that his finger had in fact been dislocated and Betty owed him around three hundred dollars in hospital bills.


	2. The Sitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty sits
> 
>  
> 
> For /ztg/'s Winter Holidays TT

 

 

God, it’s cold. I’m cold. Should probably put a jacket on but the blanket I’ve thrown over my shoulders is probably gonna do well enough. I light up, rotating the dart in my fingers to get a nice, even burn. I snort in anticipation, already feeling my daily headache settle down. No sunset’s ever a good one until I’ve had some coffee and a smoke.

I adjust my seating. The highest step of my porch is usually pretty comfy but I’m having trouble getting my bearings today. Usually that’s a sign for trouble. Cormo moved in on a day I couldn’t get relaxed while sitting.

I take a drag, feeling the menthol delicately chill my lungs. When I exhale, I see a white wolf making his way towards me.

He groans nonsensically as he takes a seat to my left, a mug of coffee in his paw.

“New brand?”

“A tip for fixing Ritt’s door. His sisters kicked it open at like 11am yesterday morning and I happened to still be awake.”

“Mmm.”

He takes another sip. I wait for him to stop before I put the cigarette to my lips once more, making sure to blow the smoke away from him when I breathe out.

“Is it any good?” he asks.

“It’s okay. I wish it was Camel but I ran out and these are right here and, you know, I'm not gonna not save money.”

“Mmm.”

If I really wanted to, I could fall asleep right here. Probably wouldn’t be advised—god knows I’d wake up to some asshole trying to grope me or steal my pack—but if I wanted, then I could. I roll my shoulders back, feeling the soft fabric of the blanket across them bringing warmth. I side-eye the wolf beside me and lift it up, offering to share.

My Alpha shakes his head. “Nah. Gotta leave in a minute.”

It’s my turn to make a dad noise in response as I focus back to the street. More and more mammals are waking up and getting out of their houses as the night starts. It’s gonna be ridiculously busy come an hour, but I’ll be gone by then. For now, it’s nice.

Al leaves without ceremony and before I know it, I’m alone again.

Why did I choose to smoke menthol cigs on a cold morning? I take a drag. Inhale, exhale. I hate this stuff. No, I don't. God, why'd it have to be menthol? 

Time for another drag. 

Maybe I should learn how to blow smoke rings.

Heh. Yeah, right.

The sun’s moved itself to a spot that hits me well, warming me in tandem with the blanket as its rays hit my fur and burrow deep, almost washing over my bare skin. I purr, grabbing the coffee mug that Al left behind for me. Still a third left. How sweet. Bringing it to my lips, I take a quiet slurp. Still warm, too. Gonna have to wash this before I return it, but that’s fine.

“It’s way too early and I really don’t want to go to work,” grumbles Avo from behind me. She skulks over and sits in Al’s place. Instinct tells me to tell her to move it, but neither my muscles nor my lips make any initiative to move. Way too early for power struggles, and she knows her place anyway.

“You don’t have to,” I say. “Unless you found a job since yesterday and, I don’t think you did.”

“Nah. Marty got me to volunteer for his dumb reading thing,” she explains, holding up a gym bag filled with kids books.

That explains her clothing, too. A modest black dress ending just above the knees. Gets a nice chuckle out of me. “That should be fun. You and a bunch of pups? Nothing can go right.”

“They’re very cute, don’t get me wrong, but…”

“Not your style?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s too bad,” I chuckle again. “But you know how it is. Breaking promises won’t do you well.”

I hold the cigarette to my lips and inhale. Once I’ve blown another puff of smoke out I offer some to Avo.

She shakes her head politely, holding up an unwrapped lollipop. “Got all the coping I need right here.”

Don’t know why I try in the first place. She always refuses. I guess it just feels like the right thing to do. Taking a break from the cigarette for a bit, I lean back and breathe in the nearly freezing air. For a moment, I feel almost as good as I do when I’m smoking, and then I realize that I’m only halfway through my cig and I still am smoking.

“Is that Al’s mug?”

“Yep,” I answer.

“Does he know you have it?”

“Of course. Who do you think I am? Charlie?”

“She _probably_  wouldn’t borrow from Al, even if she really needed to—but yeah, I think you could be. The two of you possess just about the same amount of sex appeal.”

Centring my voice on the middle of my chest, I let loose a nice, low growl.

Avo physically backs away, but her grin hasn’t changed. “I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah. Seeya.”

And then she’s gone. I take another swig of that coffee. It’s a little colder now, but still workable. If I wanted to prolong my stay on this porch then I could go inside for a few minutes and make more, but in all honesty I can’t be assed. If I go inside, I’m fuckin’ staying there until I have to come out.

Looking to my side shows me that Avo left a book behind. Seems like I’m getting a bunch of little gifts today. A hardcover, too. There’s a rabbit on the front, but from the looks of it it seems to be a stuffed toy or something. The title’s so old, cracked and faded that it’s basically just an pale red spiderweb sprawled across the book. Not even an author name or anything. What a shame. It’d be nice to know what book I’m returning to the library.

I should get up and do that.

Or maybe I’ll do it later.

Yeah, I think I will. Coffee hasn’t run out (it will soon but whatever) and there’s still a good third of cigarette left. Speaking of…

Life passes on, as it does. I won’t pretend like I know everyone walking by, but I know a lot of them, which sucks because that means I have to nod my head in acknowledgement if we make eye contact, and there’s a lot of eye contact. Kids and teens and more kids and the occasional person five years younger stroll by my porch. Cripes, I feel old. I go to smoke a little more, and realize that I’ve finished the damn thing.

I flick the cigarette butt towards the pavement and sigh.

That’s when I smell aardwolf.

“What do you want, Anneke?”

“Nothing,” she replies, stepping out from behind me. What is with everyone but Al coming in behind my back? She sits where Avo sat, fidgety for some reason. Her smile’s erratic. I think I make her nervous, cause she’s always like this when we’re talking one on one. Probably why it doesn’t happen too much. “Why’re you holding The Velveteen Rabbit?”

“Oh, is that what this is?” I ask, handing her the book. “Couldn’t figure out. The title’s beat to shit.”

“You could have turned to the title page,” she teases lightly, voice quivering but steady enough. “But yeah. If I was half blind and high I’d see this cover from a mile away and still know what it is. That brings me back to my question, though. Do you have a secret kid or something? Because if you do then my brother kinda owes me fifty bucks.”

“It’s Avo’s. You wanna return it to her? She’s at the library.”

“Gross. Double no,” she says, making a face like she’s tasted something too bitter. “Would much rather stay here and…bake cookies or something.”

“I’m just gonna decide that that was a euphemism,” I groan.

“Nope! But, I mean, could be,” Anneke winks. That’s when I notice her tail’s fluffed.

“You okay?”

“Uh, why wouldn’t I be?”

I tilt my head. “Well…nah, never mind. So you like that book?”

She perks up immediately. “Yeah! This shit’s my fuckin’ _jam_. Wolt used to read it to me. When we were kids we both had real shitty vision and our family could only afford like, a single pair of glasses for us both and I was always too lazy to actually _read_  so…” she trails off. “Anyway, yeah.”

I rumble in reply, sipping the last of my coffee. For some reason I feel like I’m the only one who’s comfortable in this sil—

“Okay bye,” she blurts hurriedly, scampering down my stairs.

“Anneke,” I call.

“ _Yes_?” she almost shrieks, spinning around so fast I’m surprised that her neck isn’t broken. She quickly notices that she’s still gripping the book in her paws and laughs, running over to place it by my side. “Heh, sorry! Uh. See you around.”

“Yeah.”

The aardwolf leaves, still in a hurry but a little more calm. I keep my eyes on her as she speed-walks away and back into her building. Weird girl. Who knew that she could be so…I don’t know.

I lean back, out of caffeine and wanting to save the rest of my smokes for later. Looks like my wake-up ritual is done here.

Then I smell food. And then I smell food that’s socially acceptable to eat. A grin sprouts on my face as Remmy walks up to me, almost as shaky as Anneke was. He’s got something in his pocket. Hopefully it’s more smokes. That's always nice. If I was twenty I’d be able to smell a pack from this far away, but all I can smell now is pent-up sheep.

“What can I do you for, cotton ball?” I purr, baring my teeth a little more than I need to.

Sadly, he doesn’t flinch. The sheep seems too preoccupied with whatever’s on his mind to notice. He stands in front of me and waves. “Uh, hey. This is a little weird—”

“If you’re looking for someone to get your rocks off, there’s a cute aardwolf in the next building who’s just _begging_  for it. Seriously.”

“No! No,” he chuckles awkwardly, scratching the side of his head. “Actually…I have something for you.”

Smokes. The little sheep pulls out a pretty pack of Camel Crush and hands them to me, blushing the whole time. Now _this_  is a surprise.

“Don’t think about it too much. It’s just a sheep thing. For the holidays we kinda get things for the mammals who take care of us and, well, I haven’t forgotten about that time you barged in and made me soup.”

“You let me in,” I object immediately. “And that was—“

“I wasn’t Pack, yet.”

“You basically were,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“But I wasn’t. And if I was I’d still say thanks,” he insists, smiling softly. “I’ll see you later, Betty.”

I blink and take a glance at the little box in my paw. The guy might be a snivelling wreck of a ram, but he sure knows how to choose a gift. Or maybe I’m just easy. I meet his eyes again, grinning back. “Right. Well. Thanks then, fluff.”

Remmy nods profusely and walks away. I can see now that he’s got a backpack on. Probably holding something that he’ll give to Al. Or Avo. Anyone who’s tolerated him this much without killing and eating him, really. I laugh to myself, standing up and stretching my back. Sitting down for so long really doesn’t do good for it.

Leaning on the rails, I take another look at the little gift the cloud boy brought me.

It’d be a waste to waste such a thoughtful present.

Shit, but I need to get to whatever I need to get to today.

Nah. It’s fine. I pull out a dart from the box of Camel Crush and light up.


	3. Food Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Al gets Bug Burga with one of his favorite aardwolves
> 
> One of the two aardwolves he knows, really, but that doesn't matter

“You see my brother anywhere?” Anneke asks, making sure not to get in my view of the game.

“No,” I answer.

“What about Ozzy?”

I shake my head.

“Avo?”

“She left for the gym a few minutes ago.”

“Betty—“

“Is busy with things. Marty’s at work. Charlie’s helping Betty, and the sheep—“

“Don’t even _mention_  him.”

“Careful,” I warn. I take my eyes off the TV and look at her for the first time in our conversation.

She balks under me, but stands her ground. She crosses her arms. “Well, if no one’s around, you gotta come with me.”

“I don’t _gotta_  do anything,” I remind her. “Where are you headed?”

“Burgas!”

“Not hungry,” I tell her, right before my stomach rumbles. Loudly.

A shit-eating grin breaks like sunlight onto her face, lighting her eyes like they’re giant beacons of hope and since when was I that good with words? She leans in. “Your mouth’s telling me _no_ …but your body! _Your body’s telling me—_ “

“Fine!” I bark. “Fuck. Just stop singing. Let me get some pants on.”

 

* * *

 

It’s a decent night. The stars are out, despite the usual smog. Plus the air’s cold and crisp. Don’t get me wrong, the summer heat was nice and all but having all this fur come in handy for once is always…a gratifying experience. You don’t get enough of those nowadays. Moments where being a wolf is nicer than being anything else, I mean.

I turn my head slightly and get a peek at the aardwolf beside me. Anneke’s strutting happily down the sidewalk, looking almost ten years younger than she actually is. Little squirt’s always gotten a kick out of trying to convince me to do dumb shit so it makes sense that the one time it actually worked, she’s over the fuckin’ moon.

I’d wonder why she didn’t wanna go alone, but I’ve seen the types that come out and skulk around this part of town at this time of night. I wouldn’t want her to come out by herself either.

Okay. Get to the cesspool of grease and milkshakes and then get home. That’s all.

“Al?” I hear.

“Anneke.”

“Can I—“

“Look, Velvet said that she’d be fine with it but I just don’t know. You kids might be fine with all this _sharing_  bullshit that you’re coming up with nowadays but—“

“That’s not what I was gonna say,” she huffs. “I was actually gonna thank you fer comin’ out.”

“Oh. It’s no big deal. Plus, like you said, my body’s kinda asking for it anyway.”

Her ears wiggle, and she fights to suppress a grin.

“Quiet,” I mutter.

“I wasn’t talking! Hey, what’s that?”

She points over to the broken down, decaying shop across the street. From here I can just barely read the faded print against the glass that reads ‘Larry Lynx’s Luxury Horseshoes!” in a murky chestnut brown. A little picture of a hoof and a brass horseshoe sit underneath the text, half erased and faded by the sun.

“That’s been here since the dawn of time,” I explain. “It’s probably a front. Haven’t seen anyone walk in or out of that place the entire time I’ve lived on Pack Street, and I’ve been here for my whole life.”

“So, like fifty years then?”

I give her a look.

“Forty?”

I raise my eyebrow.

“You can’t expect me to guess thirty.”

“Where’s your brother?” I ask quickly. “Weird to me that you wouldn’t know.”

“We’re not conjoined at the hip,” she snarks. “Sometimes he just goes out and I forget to ask why, and then I don’t see him till he’s passed out on the couch.”

“Fair point,” I say. “You two just always came off to me as the type who never fought.”

“Oh, we fight. Never for too long, though.”

I grunt in reply. I was an only child, so it’s a little hard to relate, but I can’t help but feel a little jealous of mammals with siblings. Pros and cons to both, I guess. It’s not like I have to worry about having someone there for me nowadays.

“Al?”

“Anneke.”

“We should hang out more!”

Should we?

An image pops into my head: Anneke beside me. We’re on the couch. Hanging out. Some stupid daytime talk show's on, and I’m only okay with it because I’m twelve beers in. So far, everything’s fine. And then I hear myself moan. I look over to my side, fur standing on end from my toes to the top of my skull, and I see that she’s gotten into my phone cause she has no sense of personal space. Or privacy.

On the screen, in vivid HD, is a video filmed from my point of view, and my cock’s all the way inside of Velvet’s ass.

I swallow, and shake my head. “Really? I figured that we existed on different wavelengths.”

“ _What?_ ” she shrieks. “Of course not. Well, maybe. But that’s what makes it fun! Like how Charlie and Marty hang out.”

“That…makes sense, I think. Good job on that,” I tell her, stopping as Bug Burga’s neon lights come into view. “Guess I’ll think about— _hey!”_

The fuckin’ idiot’s walked off into the street, which I wouldn’t normally care about normally except for the shitty Meowata coming full speed towards her! I shoot forward, getting my shoulder in line with her butt and reaching around. She protests as I lift her over my shoulders and pedal backwards before the fuck ugly red car swings by, the total trashbag of a driver flipping us off as it passes.

I almost hear Anneke smirk as she dangles upside down. “See? You keep me vigilant!”

“Alive, you mean,” I growl. I drop her, smiling a bit at her undignified ‘oof!’ before she stands up. “Look both ways when you cross, and go get us our food.”

“What, you’re not coming?”

“Place is crowded enough.”

She looks again, noticing the dozens of preds cramped up in the place, thrashing around for a spot to either wait in line or wait for their food. “Oh. Good point.”

“I know,” I say. “Run along.”

Anneke huffs and crosses her arms, but leaves anyway. Then my phone rings.

I know who it is before I answer.

“Gonna be running late,” Velvet says apologetically, enough so I can see the slight frown on her face in my mind. “One of the girls is really just, not doing well and I have to be here for her.”

“No problem,” I sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Anneke dragged me out of the lobby for fast food.”

“That’s nice! I’ve always thought that either the twins would be good for you to spend some time with. You know, get you to loosen up a little.”

Heat pools in my cheeks as Velvet giggles. She can probably see me as vividly as I can see her.

“I don’t need to loosen up,” I assert weakly.

“You don’t _need_  to, but, well, let’s just say that it’d be very cute to me,” she purrs. “And you know how much I love it when you’re cute.”

My tail wags. I turn my gaze up to the violet sky. “Do I?”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

“I know, sweetie. I’ll see you at nine.”

“You’ll see me sleeping at nine,” I tease.

“You always wake up when I come home.”

“…You know me too well.”

“I love you,” she says.

“I love you too,” I say back.

 

The hang up tone rings softly in my ear. I’m smiling for a bit, but my mood sours real fuckin’ quick when I notice what’s going on inside the Bug Burga.

I growl, clenching my fists as I cross the road. I forget to check for oncoming traffic but honestly a car could hit me right now and I wouldn’t give it an _inch_. My steps feel weightless, like I’m in a dream. The kind of dream you can only have in the sleep I’m about to send a few of the douchebags I just saw into.

The doors open for me almost automatically. I forget to thank the wolves who opened them for me, but they probably understand. The whole place understands, judging from how I don’t need to push through anyone as I stalk through the crowd. Something about my smell, I’m gonna guess. Anneke’s quiet but frenzied rejections get louder and louder until I’ve finally arrived behind her.

She’s gripping a bag full of our food in one hand and the air with another. Her hairs are raised up straight into an angry little mohawk as she growls and spits at the trio of lions invading her personal space.

“I thought I told you to fuck off,” she snaps.

“And I would,” one of the lions —the one in the middle— answers, fake-politely. “If you would just tell us your hourly rates.”

“Oh, _very_  original. You know, they always tell you that the girls are the ones who can’t let go of one-night-stands, but I’m really starting to think the opposite.”

“ _I’m_  not the slut that fell for a pick-up line from Spiderwolf.”

“And I’m not the _faggot_  that actually tried to use it. And FYI: I only let you eat me out because your brother ended up telling me that he had a fiancé like, fifteen minutes into our conversation.”

The lion roars, and it’s almost pathetic how unshaken the entire place is.

I decide that’s my cue to step in.

“Something wrong, Annie?”

Anneke’s eyes widen. She looks back at me in sync with the lions. They’re making a valiant effort not to show it, but they’re scared of me. As they should be.

“No, Dad. I don’t think so,” the aardwolf announces smugly.

“Is that right?” I ask.

“Yep!”

“Wasn’t asking you,” I mutter, locking eyes with the middle lion. He knows. How could he not? He knows that he’s lost, and it’s humiliating him to a degree that isn’t even close to what he deserves, but if I wanna eat my food I’ll have to make due. I stay stock-still as we stare at each other. First one to look away loses and—there it is.

The lion backs off, leaving the restaurant with his tail swishing around in irritation. His dumbass friends follow him. The restaurant almost instantly gets back into its madness.

“Can I just say—“ Anneke starts.

“Please—“

“That was kind of hot.”

I sigh, rubbing one of my eyes. “Let’s just get out of here.”

 

* * *

 

If I don’t know now it’s gonna eat at me, but if I ask I know I’m going to regret it.

Hmm…fuck it. “So, Dad?”

Anneke giggles, stuffing another handful of fries into her mouth. “It made Axel more scared! Not that he needed to be.”

“Axel,” I repeat. “Fucker’s name was _Axel?”_

“Lions, Al.”

“Lions…”

Lions.

“Alright,” I clear my throat. “Fair enough, but don’t call me that again.”

“Too kinky for you?”

She withers slightly under my side-eye.

“Fine, fine.”

“What did you get us?” I ask, after she’s taken a few minutes to sulk. “It’d better be nothing too greasy. Not looking forward to feeling like there’s oil embedded in my face.”

“I got an extra crunchy fried roach wrap for me…” she reports, looking into the bag like there’s another world inside. “And a standard double patty burga for you. And a bunch of fries for the two of us.”

“That,” I start, reviewing the order in my mind. A little greasier than what I would normally want, but I didn’t care enough to actually make sure that she got what I wanted, so I can’t complain now. Not that I knew what I wanted in the first place. “That’s fine,” I finish. “I’m not Avo so I guess it doesn’t matter.”

“That’s the spirit!” Anneke chirps. “I’m sure whatever the fuck you put into that body just turns into muscle anyway.”

I make a conscious effort to keep my tail still. “You’re right.”

We fall into a surprisingly comfortable silence as we make our way back home. The night sky’s progressed into a darker shade of purple, blending with the stars. They’re different tonight—less white, more on the transparent side—but that’s how things are sometimes. It’s almost nicer like this. The way that the sky and the stars mesh together is surprisingly sightly.

“Al. Hey, Al?”

“Yeah?” I hum, looking at the aardwolf.

Her eyes are all wide and watery, and her mouth’s dipped ever so slightly down. I know this look well.

Fucking puppy eyes.

“Can I get a piggyback?”

“…What? No.”

“Please?” she whines. “It’ll be so much fun.”

“What the fuck, Anneke—“

“You called me ‘Annie’ back there, by the way—“

“In no world is this going to happen.”

“Why not?” she whines again, moving to walk backwards in front of me. “Come on. It’ll make for a _great_  story. From today onwards I’ll be able to say, ‘hey, remember that time I got a piggyback from Al?’ and it’ll bring joy to my heart, and everyone else’s, too. Hey wait! What if I did you a favor?”

I laugh harshly. “I don’t think I need anything _you_  could possibly give me.”

She stops, and I nearly run into her before I stop too. With an air of conspiracy around her, she looks around us before she leans in, pawing lightly at my chest to get me to bend down to her level.

“What if,” she whispers saucily. “What if last time I was at Pandora’s, I saw a certain doe there?”

My brain throbs. “You can’t be telling the truth.”

“What if we had a conversation?”

“About?”

“About what she was buying, obvi.”

“Then I wouldn’t believe you,” I whisper back.

“Are you sure?” she asks. Our eyes meet. In hers I see nothing but the obvious signs of someone fucking around, but I see something else, too.

“Fine,” I growl, getting down on a knee.

Anneke looks back and forth between her feet and my frowning face. “Wait, seriously?”

“Come on.”

She giggles like mad, throwing herself onto my back. “Nice!”

We hobble along the sidewalk. Anneke’s really warm and she makes for some nice extra heating that my fur just can’t give me on it’s own, no matter the temperature. Weird turn of events, but she doesn’t actually say anything. I feel her rest her cheek between my shoulder blades and, well, I don’t hate this.

 

* * *

 

“ _And still,_ ” the announcer booms from the TV, on which is a giant bear standing triumphant beside a wolf that looks more like a willow tree, now that he’s gone the distance. “ _The reigning ZFC heavyweight division champion of the world…is—_ “

“Fucking cunt,” I mutter, taking my eyes off the screen. I focus instead on the aardwolf curled up beside me, nursing two boxes of fries. “You really got a lot of these things.”

“I was a lot hungrier thirty minutes ago,” she groans. “Want the rest?”

“I didn’t think I’d have to ask,” I half-tease, taking both boxes from her and cramming some fries into my mouth.

“Al?”

“Yeaghp,” I garble over a maw full of potato.

“Thanks for the piggyback.”

Swallowing my food, I wave her off. “Would have given it to you anyway, honestly.”

“What, really? I didn’t have to tell you about—”

“Really respected your determination, back there. You’d be a decent Beta.”

“Gross, no. I’m not looking to wrestle with Betty for a few hours.”

“That’s good, because I was lying to make you happy.”

Her eyes widen. “You _do_  care.”

“Not what I said.”

She giggles. “Okay! Your secret’s safe with me, though.”

There’s no secret, but I don’t feel like getting into it when the rematch between the Scorchers and the Spiders is just beginning. Anneke’s off and doing something on her phone anyway so she probably wouldn’t appreciate—

A moan rings out beside me.

“Shit,” the aardwolf whispers to herself, looking at me to see if I’d heard.

I’m already inches away from her face.

“H-Hey, Al.”

“What were you watching?”

“Are you scared?”

“Phone. Now.”

Her phone turns back on, blue light streaming out instantly from its screen and—

“Oh thank god, it’s just porn,” I sigh in relief, retreating to my space on the couch. It was  _her_ phone anyway. I'm not even sure why I was so worried.

Anneke raises an eyebrow. “You’re okay with that?”

“…No. Shut it off.”

She throws the phone across the room, landing it perfectly on a chair.

“Nice shot,” I rumble. Cheers from the crowd ripple through the screen as the game starts.


	4. bruhhhhh pass me a BREWSKI DUDE HooK Me UP1!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BETTY GRABS HERSELF A BEER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick quickie written in the span of a couple of hours cause I totally spaced on this TT
> 
>  
> 
> For /trash/'s Thematic Thursday: Guilty Pleasures

It’s real fuckin’ hot out. This porch is practically burning my pads off.

All around me are familiar faces panting in the sweltering sun. Honestly, I’m not even too sure what “sweltering” means, exactly, but I know for sure that the sun’s doing it, and that right now it’s probably the worst thing to happen today. I feel like my winter coat never went away, even though I had to spend about an hour picking my goddamn shed out of the couch the other week. I feel like any water I try to bring outside is gonna evaporate the minute it touches the daylight. I feel like my sweat is sweating.

I feel like having a nice, cold beer.

There’s about seven scent trails leading me to that icy, refreshing, malty goodness, but only one that’s less than a block away from me. I turn my eyes to the Crowns, where the front door’s been wedged open with a folding chair and light rock music plays shamelessly from a shitty boombox. The Pack’s in there, dying like I am, and as far as I know, Al’s in there with them. And he’s gonna have what I want.

So it’s off to there, then.

I casually step off the porch and _holy shit_. My feet feel like they’re being licked by the devil. Every step I take toward Al’s apartment building is quick and flighty as I channel my inner rabbit and dash towards the front door. I nearly step on a piece of broken glass in the process, but hey, maybe the blood would cool me down a bit.

Miraculously, I survive the journey with no cuts and no burns. With my heart pounding and my pads sore, I run up the steps and bound into The Crowns.

Ozzy and Avo share the couch, intertwining their legs in a giant pretzel of stripes and opaqueness. Whatever conversation they were having just now, they stop to pay respects to their beta. Avo gives me a slight nod, but the hyena across from her breaks out into a grin as sunny as the day outside.

“Hey, momma! Come to spend some time with us?”

“It’s too damn hot,” I say. “Gonna get a beer.”

“Me an’ Avo were talking about going to the pool.”

“Ugh. It’s gonna be crowded.”

“That’s what she said!”

“That _is_  what I said,” chimes Avo through her idle panting.

“Well, it’s true,” I assure Ozzy, who shakes his head vehemently.

“Nah, nah! There’re a bunch of not-too-popular ones over in Rainforest!”

“And why aren’t they popular?”

“Chlamydia.”

I blink. “Excuse me?”

“Buncha koalas came over from Outback Island—“

“Oh, god.”

“—And had a bunch of parties over there, and a _bunch_  of mammals ended up contracting chlamydia after things got a little too wild,” says Ozzy, like he’s describing a couple of kids who got too rough while playing. “The owners kinda had their properties taken away from them, and now there’s new owners but the reputation of their pools are kinda in the gutter now. But I figure that they’re all cleaned up now, and they’re fine.”

Avo shrugs at me. I raise an eyebrow. “We can discuss this after I come back from Al’s.”

“Kay!”

The degree difference between outside and the shitty AC in the hallways of this place is barely noticeable. I resist the urge to scratch the top of my ear, because it’s real fuckin’ dry and if I scratch it now it’s only gonna get worse. Instead, I locate Al’s apartment and knock on it twice, rubbing my foot a little bit at the bottom of the door so he gets my scent easier through the walls.

Shirtless, sweating, and as hot as I am, Al answers the door.

I don’t mention his deer boxers. It’s possibly the hardest thing I’ve done all week.

“Hey,” he says.

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

He leads me into his den, and I take a seat on his couch. The scent of his musk is heavy in the air. I ignore it.

“What can I do for you?” he asks.

“Beer.”

“What about it?”

“I want one.”

He goes silent.

“What?” I ask.

“You said you were stopping,” he states.

I stand up and turn to face him, putting my paws on my hips. “I said I was watching my weight.”

There’s a remark on his mind. I see it on his face.

I tense up, ready to call him a fat slob that should really be the one watching his extra pounds.

But he doesn’t say anything. He opens his fridge and pulls a can out, tossing it to me. It’s cold in my hands. Just holding it is doing wonders for the rest of me. I feel like I’m standing in a drizzle of nicely chilled rain. I take hold of the tab and lift it, and the sound of the air inside being released is like a massage for my brain.

I shiver. “Just couldn’t resist.”

“I know the feeling,” he says, cracking a brew open for himself.

We hold our cans up to each other, and drink.

The bitterness of the IPA hits me first, but then comes the cold, and after the cold comes the subtle flavors contained in the more obvious notes of malt and hops and whatever they put in beer that no one actually likes the taste of. The bubbles of carbonation dance on my tongue and the sides of my mouth. The alcohol gives me a nice numb. A thousand things happen in the span of a second, and before I know it, I’ve drunk the whole can.

I part with the beer with a relieved sigh, and close my eyes.

All is good.


	5. The Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not the M. Night movie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Thematic Thursday: Abandoned Places

Betty, this is dumb. I don’t know why I have to come with you.

 

Charlie would have been better for this.

 

I guarantee you she knows the place better than I do.

 

I don’t know where she left it.

 

Goddamn it.

 

Everything’s so fuckin’ dusty.

 

The place barely looks the same, Betty. You think I’m gonna remember where everything is?

 

This shit’s spooky as fuck.

 

I know that my eyes are definitely working better than yours, _grandma._

 

Actually, I can’t see into that room. That’s…that’s weird, right?

 

No, like, come over here.

 

Betty. This is not a thing that happens. Come over here.

 

_Betty I’m fucking serious._

 

 _Look_  at it. What do you see?

 

Let’s get the fuck out of here.

 

...

 

I need to know that you heard that, too.

 

…

 

Yo, who the fuck’s in there?

 

It’s the fucking -- _fuck!_ I don’t know.

 

I mean, I don’t know! I swear to god I don’t know what room this was.

 

Don’t fucking go in there.

 

Betty.

 

Betty!

 

 

...

 

 

Betty?


End file.
